


A "Zoo-per" Birthday

by SunshineScorpius



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Thorne & Rowling
Genre: Birthday, Established Relationship, Happy HC birthday Albus, It's going to be a magiZOOical day, M/M, Scorpius is a disney princess, That wasn't a funny pun was it?, Trips to the zoo, i'm albus hating being woken up, not lion the zoo was great, tag urself
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-26
Updated: 2019-06-26
Packaged: 2020-05-21 08:10:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,984
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19370695
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SunshineScorpius/pseuds/SunshineScorpius
Summary: For Albus' 17th birthday, the Potters (and Scorpius) take a trip to the zoo.





	A "Zoo-per" Birthday

**Author's Note:**

> In honour of today being my headcanon for Albus' birthday (26th June), I have written a special something for him. Happy birthday, Albus!
> 
> Alternatively titled "Wake Up, Potter. We're Going To The Zoo!"

It was common knowledge that Albus Potter hates being woken up in the morning.

Even on Christmas morning, fury would poor out of him if someone had woken him up before he had the chance to wake himself. Most people were well aware of the moodiness they’d be fronted with, especially his parents, who now just left Albus to his own devices unless he was running late for the train.

When he woke himself, it was fine. But he did not like being woken up.

Everyone knew this.

However, it seemed Scorpius had never got the message.

“Go away,” Albus spat as Scorpius ripped the covers from his bed. He couldn’t see him, but he knew Scorpius was sporting a wide beam, as he was usually chipper this time in the morning. Scorpius had been staying at the Potter’s for a few days now and would be till the end of the week. Which meant Albus was in a for a few more days of being woken before he was ready. Scorpius usually left him to sleep, it seemed today was the exception.

“You cannot be moody with me today, Albus Potter. It is your birthday, I am your boyfriend and you _will_ be happy,” he sang whilst simultaneously scolding him, pulling on his arm so Albus would turn onto his back. He relented with a large groan but pulled the covers over him before Scorpius could climb on top of him.

“Birthday or not, you know I hate being woken up,” he groaned, trying to force venom into his voice. Truthfully, no matter how much he hated it, he could never truly be mad at Scorpius. It was one of the things that irritated Albus the most. There was no way anyone could be mad when looking at a literal angel, with glowing silver eyes and silky soft white-blond hair. His soft features were hard to stay scornful at when he smiled brighter than the sun.

“But, we’re going to the zoo! A muggle zoo! And we’re leaving in like an hour and I know you need a shower and you have to open your presents so up!” Scorpius patted his shoulder, and Albus could feel the weight lift off the bed as Scorpius jumped to the floor on light feet.

Albus groaned and rolled out of bed, expecting to be met with a morning kiss, but Scorpius was already out the door and talking to James in the hallway. He passed them on the way to the bathroom, hearing James talk about how Scorpius survived his morning fury, before catching sight of Albus and wishing him a happy birthday.

That’s when Albus got his morning kiss from Scorpius, who beamed at him and whispered the same wish, before planting his chapped lips to Albus’. James muttered something about them being gross before taking off downstairs and Scorpius left Albus to shower and followed him down. Albus watched him go, unable to break from the enchantment Scorpius held on him until he was fully out of sight.

Albus showered in record time, putting on black jeans and a t-shirt and heading downstairs to find his family and Scorpius engaged in a conversation led by Scorpius, of course. Get that boy going, and he would never shut up. They seemed patient though, and actually quite engaged in the conversation, which Albus thanked them for it silently. Not everyone was so nice when forced to endure one of Scorpius’ rambles. Albus loved them, in fact he could listen to them all day and never tire. Scorpius’ voice was enthralling, angelic, like a Siren. And Albus would follow him into the dark.

“Happy birthday!” His mum cooed, cutting Scorpius off randomly. The other boy didn’t seem too disheartened, because even though his smile faded, it lit the room back up again when he caught a glimpse of Albus standing in the doorway.

“Hey, bud,” his dad said, getting up and embracing him in a hug following his mum. “Happy birthday! Seventeen, can you believe?”

“I can actually,” Albus replied, trying to keep the awkwardness from his voice. Physical affection, even with his parents, had never been easy for him. Unless with Scorpius. It seemed both boys hated being touched in any way unless it was by the other. Albus’ mum says that’s what gave their relationship away even before they’d come out.

His dad chuckled at his response and beckoned him over to the sofa to join the others. He sat next to Scorpius, who instantly wrapped a hand around his waist and kissed his cheek, wishing him a happy birthday for the second time that day. Sometimes, Albus thought Scorpius was more excited about his birthday than he was himself. He had been spending them with Albus since they got together – as Albus’ birthday fell in the summer holiday, and Scorpius’ in the Christmas, they could never spend their birthdays together at Hogwarts. After making their relationship official in their fifth year, they had been able to arrange the time to see each other.

He worked through his presents one by one, getting mostly mundane things from his parents, James and Lily. They all claimed he was difficult to buy for. His parents, however, did buy him a new camera, which he’d been asking for since his old one broke earlier in the year. He kissed them both on the cheek for that, claiming that he could now carry on with his research on magical creatures that he’d been conducting.

Scorpius, for the first time, seemed to go shy, cradling the present he bought for Albus to his chest. He always got nervous when presenting a gift, as though he was terrified Albus would hate it. Truth is, Scorpius could go outside, pick up a stick and present it to him for his birthday and Albus would still love it, because it came from him.

“Can I…” he eyed Albus’ family, “Doesn’t matter. Here,” he glimpsed at the present before handing it to Albus tentatively, taking his bottom lip between his teeth and clamping down hard. Albus brushed a thumb over his lips, a silent gesture to tell him to stop. Scorpius obliged, but there were already teeth marks denting his bottom lip.

The gift was in the shape of a box, long and deep. Albus, excitement taking over, ripped away at the wrapping paper covering the gift. He loved receiving presents from Scorpius, only because his gifts were always thoughtful and nice. Beneath the wrapping paper was, as predicted, a box, locked with a small padlock. Albus sent Scorpius a puzzled look, but he only smiled reassuringly in return.

Scorpius never helped him with the code to unlock the padlock, so he tried 2606 – his birthday. When that never worked, he tried 2112 – Scorpius’ birthday. The lock clicked and opened, and Scorpius beamed at him as he opened the lid. The room was eerily silent as everyone awaited to see what was inside the box. From what Albus could gather, it was… well, a bunch of items that-

“It’s a memory box,” Scorpius supplied at Albus’ confused expression. “Dating back to when we met at eleven. There aren’t many things from before we were dating to be honest, and I pretty much skipped our fourth year for obvious reasons, but there’s a concert ticket from our first date and that flower we found near the Forbidden Forest that’s still alive, and a picture of us from the ball we attended together last year and a lot of other stuff that’s supposed to remind you of us, and happy things if you ever don’t feel… happy,” he finished shyly, fiddling with his hands. He pulled his legs to his chest, hugging them tightly. The entire time he kept his eyes on Albus. Albus suspected that his earlier question he brushed off was to give him his present in private.

“Do you… do you like it?”

Albus, who had been rummaging through the memory box, looked up to meet his eye. As predicted, he was chewing on his bottom lip like he so often did. Albus put down the box gently and crawled over to him. He took his fidgeting hands in his own and brushed a gentle kiss over his lips. “I love it, and I love you. Thank you.”

 

* * *

 

 

The zoo was bustling with kids and Albus cursed his birthday for falling on a Saturday on, quite possibly, the hottest day of the year. He also cursed the leather jacket he decided to wear, despite Scorpius scolding him, saying _“you’ll melt in that, Albus.”_ But Albus never believed him and wore it anyway and was now regretting it deeply. Not that he’d ever admit that out loud.

Scorpius had already shed his denim jacket which now was tied around his waist and his hand was sweaty in Albus’ but neither of them cared much. Lily was running ahead, dragging Ginny by the hand as they walked through the gates. James and Harry walked behind Albus and Scorpius, engaged in some conversation about Quidditch that Albus didn’t care for.

Scorpius was practically bouncing with excitement as they rounded the corner to the meerkats and he let go of Albus’ hand to run over to them, passing Ginny and Lily. Lily was soon at his side though, and they were both cooing over how cute they were.

“You’d think you’ve never been to a zoo before, Scorpius,” James said when he and Harry reached them, peering over the enclosure at the animals inside. Albus tensed, ready for what no doubt will end in an uncomfortable conversation. They usually went like that whenever James got involved. He meant well, but sometimes he didn’t realised he’d crossed a line.

“I haven’t,” Scorpius said, still bouncing on his heels.

“Really?”

“When would I have had the chance? Voldemort’s son couldn’t leave the house as a kid, remember?” There was a hint of a joke evident, but mostly he just sounded bitter. Even now, over two years after the rumour had been disbanded, Scorpius was still haunted by the taunts he received in the beginning of his Hogwarts career. Even Harry tensed at the mention of the rumour. Scorpius rarely spoke about it, and never joked about it, so it was quite a shock to have those words leave his mouth.

“Scorp,” Albus said. He reached out for his hand which Scorpius took gratefully.

“You were really isolated as a kid, huh?” James said. Scorpius nodded solemnly, turning back to the meerkats, the conversation over.

He quickly recovered from the conversation, pointing out a meerkat that was curled up around another asleep, excitedly telling Lily about them. Then he stopped to read the information board about them, which Albus stopped to read as well as he was attached to him by the hand.

They moved throughout the zoo at a slow rate, Lily and Scorpius holding them up by reading the information boards and cooing at the different animals for far too long. James and his dad seemed incredibly bored the entire time, but Albus was quite enjoying himself. Or rather, he was enjoying watching Scorpius enjoy himself.

It was hard not to be excited when Scorpius radiated that energy, bouncing on his heels like a child on Christmas day. It was nice to watch him like this, when at school these days his energy always seemed drained. After six years of bullying, Scorpius and Albus were just about done with school. One more year and they’d be done, and it will all be over. But being out in the muggle world, away from the rumours of the Slytherin Squib and Voldemort’s Son, they felt free.

Scorpius took back hold of his hand, which he had temporarily let go of to marvel at the tiger which had come right up to the glass to greet him. Scorpius, it seemed, was some sort of Disney princess, as all animals seemed to take a liking to him straight away. It was the same in magical creatures class. Maybe he gave off this energy that said, _“I understand what’s it’s like to be different and misunderstood”._

“I like being like this,” Scorpius said, swinging their hands between them.

Albus gave his hand a squeeze, “Me too. You seem happy.”

“I am happy. In fact, I’m _zoo-per._ ” Albus groaned loudly, throwing his head back and rolling his eyes. “Are you happy?” Scorpius grinned, clearly amused with the reaction he got from that awful pun.

“Always with you,” Albus said, pulling Scorpius to a stop to capture him in a kiss. He let out a soft _‘oh’_ as Albus drew him close, but quickly recovered and melted into him. He wrapped his arms around his waist and pulled him closer, deepening the kiss. When they pulled away, they simply stared at each other for a long time, taking the other in. “You’re going all red,” Albus said, planting a kiss to his sun-scorched nose.

“I hate the sun,” he laughed, rolling his eyes and detangling himself from Albus. “Ginny!”

Ginny, who was just ahead with Lily at the lion’s cage, turned around at the sound of her name. “Yes, Scorpius?”

“I’m burning,” he sulked, pouting his lip. Ginny laughed at him as he and Albus approached and dug in her bag to pull out the muggle sun-cream. Even though they had cast a couple of charms to prevent this from happening before leaving, Scorpius’ porcelain skin was ever so sensitive to the sun, and she packed some purely for him.

Albus applied it for him, putting extra across his nose and cheeks whilst Ginny mumbled something about Draco not being too pleased if we returned his son to him burnt to a crisp. Albus booped his nose when he was done, causing Scorpius to scrunch his nose in displeasure, making him look unfairly adorable.

Sometimes, Albus couldn’t believe that someone as gorgeous as Scorpius had agreed to be his boyfriend.

They carried on walking through the animals, deciding to stop for lunch at a café before entering the section dedicated to the African Savanna animals. Scorpius – as usual – recited some facts that he’d learnt along the way. James seemed to roll his eyes at almost everything he said, and Albus made a mental note to confront him about it later on. He thought James had begun to like Scorpius, but maybe Albus was wrong.

“Places like this are quite cruel,” Lily mused as they finished their lunch and headed for the next section. “They deserve to be free, not trapped in cages.”

“I agree,” Albus said. “It’s not fair they’re kept in captivity, they’re wild animals!”

“Yet, here we are, feeding into the masses and contributing to capitalism,” Scorpius agreed, swinging their hands as he walked backwards to face Albus. He nearly bumped into a young child running behind him, to which he quickly apologised profusely for to the child’s parents.

“Do we have to get political?” Harry asked, rolling his eyes fondly at his kids. “What the bloody hell is that?”

Everyone turned to see what Harry was ogling at. Sure enough, in an open expanse, was an ostrich and the only thing blocking them from the large bird was a small hill and a wooden fence.

“That’s an ostrich, dad,” Albus said, a huge beam taking over his face. “They’re essentially giant pigeons, better hope they can’t get out,” he jumped towards his dad quickly, causing him to jump. Albus, James and Lily burst into laughter at their father’s uneasiness. Albus couldn’t get over the fact that Harry Potter, Saviour of the Wizarding World, feared tiny birds that flew in the sky. Ginny was biting back a laugh at her husbands discomfort.

“Let’s move on,” Harry said, nervousness in his tone as he grabbed Ginny’s hand and began walking towards the next section, which housed the Giraffe’s.

They continued walking through the zoo, enraptured by all the various animals. Scorpius’ excitement never wavered, but, like Albus, he had always had a passion for magizoology. It made sense he was even more excited about muggle animals.

Following the African Savanna, they approached the reptile house.

“The Reptile what?” Scorpius squeaked as they approached the wooden shed.

“House,” James replied. “What? You’re not telling me the little snake’s afraid of snakes, are you?”

“James,” Ginny scolded before Albus got the chance. James shrugged and walked in the house behind Lily. Harry and Ginny entered next, leaving Albus and Scorpius behind. Albus went to go in, but Scorpius stopped him with a firm hand around his wrist.

“Does James… not like me?” He asked, nervousness in his tone that Albus suspected had more to do with James than the reptiles living in the shed behind them.

Albus hesitated. He truly did not know anymore. He thought he did, but maybe that had all been an act. “I think he does like you. You know what he’s like, he doesn’t realise the lines he crosses. I’ll talk to him,” he promised, grabbing Scorpius’ hand and leading him inside. Scorpius nodded, swallowing a lump in his throat.

“Scorpius! Come look at this!” Lily called when they entered, running over and grabbing Scorpius’ wrist and pulling him away to a snake behind a piece of glass. He looked uneasy at first, but quickly relaxed once he realised the snakes couldn’t get anywhere near him.

Albus walked over to where James was with Harry, asking his dad if he could talk to him. Harry nodded and walked to where Ginny was. “James.”

“Albus.”

“Do you have a problem with Scorpius?” Albus asked, narrowing his eyes and keeping his gaze firm and stoic, hoping to come across a little like their mother whenever she told them off.

“No, why?”

“Well, you’re being kind of a dick. So, can you stop? You know he’s sensitive and he gets enough shit at school. He doesn’t need it with his _boyfriend’s_ family too.”

“Woah, Al, it’s just banter,” James defended, holding his hands up in surrender.

“Not to him.”

James softened. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think he thought anything of it, we always joke around and that’s what I thought we were doing.”

“You were rolling your eyes when he was speaking at lunch.”

“Come on, Al. He talks a lot!”

“I don’t care. Play nice or fuck off, James.”

Albus went to storm off, but James grabbed his wrist. “Okay, I am sorry. Really. I do like him, and he makes you happy, so, I’ll be better.”

Albus softened, dropping his stance. “Don’t apologise to me, apologise to him.”

“I will.”

Albus nodded and walked off, back over to Scorpius and Lily, who had been joined by Harry and Ginny. Harry was talking about the time he set a snake on his cousin Dudley when he was ten, just before starting Hogwarts. Albus had heard the story a thousand times, but Scorpius hadn’t, and was stood with his jaw open and biting back a laugh.

Albus had to admit his dad knew how to tell a story. When he was kid, Albus was fascinated with the tales of Harry Potter, always enraptured and wanting to know more. As he grew, however, and began hearing those stories from just about everyone else, he grew bored. James and Lily still loved to hear them, and Scorpius – the giant dork he was – would do anything for a fresh bit of knowledge.

Scorpius left the reptile house first, seemingly having enough of the snakes around him – they really did freak him out quite a bit. Albus, however, quite liked the creatures. Maybe it was because of his house, or that his initials spelt _asp,_ but he felt like he could relate to them more than any other animal.

James gave him a nod before exiting after Scorpius, and Albus was happy James was going to apologise for his more-than-shitty behaviour.

The remaining four lingered in the reptile house, Lily having her own fascination with the crocodiles before joining James and Scorpius. When they exited back into the blaring heat, James and Scorpius were sat on a bench in deep conversation. Scorpius was looking at his fiddling hands, nodding along and saying the odd thing every now and again, but it was mostly James carrying the conversation.

After a moment, Scorpius laughed, and James patted him on the back. They stood and made their way back over. Scorpius beamed at Albus, taking his hand and kissing his cheek.

“All good?” Albus asked.

“Yep.”

 

* * *

 

 

The rest of the zoo passed with a lowered level of excitement, but it was still evident. Scorpius was over the moon about all the new knowledge he had gained and had taken quite a few pictures with the various statues posted around which he made Albus join in on.

When they had full-circled the zoo, there was a few kids rides and game stands around, like hook-a-duck and basketball.

“Ooh! Let me win you something!” Scorpius, pulling Albus towards a stand in which you had to knock over cans with a ball in one hit. Albus didn’t have much faith in Scorpius, given as he was the least athletic person ever, but he allowed him to entertain the idea.

On his first go, he failed and pouted. Albus rubbed his back. “Babe, you don’t have to win me anything,” Albus assured, but Scorpius shook his head.

“It’s your birthday, I want to.” And Albus never complained. Surprisingly, it had only taken him five separate attempts to knock over all the cans and win Albus a stuffed elephant hanging above them. The host of the stand presented it to them with a beam on her face, complimenting them on what an adorable couple they were. Scorpius grinned and thanked her, taking the elephant and handing it to Albus with a kiss on the cheek.

“I’ll name him Scorpius,” Albus joked.

Scorpius’ grin dropped. “You won’t.”

“Why won’t I?”

“Because it’s awful!”

“Nothing about you is awful.”

“Wrong. My name is.”

“Not.”

“Is.”

“Not.”

“Okay, kids, no need for a domestic,” James said, breaking their bicker with a grin on his face. Albus rolled his eyes and Scorpius folded his arms, mumbling something about not having a domestic. Albus grinned at how easily grumpy he got, knowing grumpiness was more of an Albus trait.

“Cheer up, Scorpy,” Albus teased, reaching around the big elephant in his hands to pinch his boyfriend’s cheek. It was hard, because his cheekbones were so sharp that there wasn’t much skin to pinch. Scorpius pulled his face away, pouting harder. “Fine, I’ll name him…” Albus studied the elephant deeply, long enough for a grin to break out on Scorpius’ face. “Eliot. Eliot the Elephant.”

James snorted. “Dork.” James stalked off.

“I love it,” Scorpius said, grumpiness dissipating and being replaced with fondness. He pulled Albus towards him, squishing Eliot between them and placing a kiss on his lips.

“I love you,” Albus said.

“I love you, too.”

Albus beamed, capturing him in one last kiss before grabbing his hand and walking from the zoo, following his parents. They all clambered into the car, which Ginny had magically expanded to fit in an extra seat. It was still a little squashed, but Albus didn’t mind as it was Scorpius who was pressed against him.

Beat from the day, Albus lay his head on his boyfriend’s shoulder, ready to fall asleep for the hour-long drive home. Scorpius rested his own head on top of Albus’. Albus hugged Eliot to his chest and curled himself into Scorpius as much as he could with the seatbelt restricting him.

“Did you have a good day?” Scorpius mumbled, half-sleep addled himself.

“The best, thank you,” Albus replied, rubbing a hand up and down Scorpius’ thigh. He just about registered the kiss Scorpius pressed to his forehead before letting sleep overtake him, feeling completely content with the day.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed! Let me know :))  
> Twitter: @sunshinescorp  
> Tumblr: sunshinescorpiusmalfoy


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